


Ride the Coattails to the Finish Line

by SarahManningIsLife



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 14:23:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4141080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahManningIsLife/pseuds/SarahManningIsLife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clexa, the 100 HSAU. Enough said.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ride the Coattails to the Finish Line

Period one. Room C134, taught by Maureen Taylor. Eleventh grade AP Biology.

Clarke was the second one there. She’d driven to school that morning in her new car with her new license, stopped and chatted with Octavia and Raven, and then gone straight to class. The first bell hadn’t even rung yet, but Clarke was already in her seat with her notebook out.

When she’d entered, Clarke was surprised to see someone there before her. Clarke had checked her phone – yes, nearly five minutes before the first bell.

The seating chart was projected onto the screen. The person sat on her right, at the back of the classroom. Clarke squinted at the seating chart. _Lexa Wood_. A name that she didn’t recognize; probably a new student.

Lexa slouched in her chair, arms crossed. Her brown hair was up in an almost perfect bun, with little fly-aways framing her face. She wore a dull blue button-down, and skinny jeans. Barely any makeup. It almost made Clarke self-conscious, almost feeling too feminine in her delicate floral dress.

The first bell rang just as a few more students entered.

“Hey, Clarke,” called Bellamy as he sauntered across the room to take his seat on her other side. “How’re you?”

Clarke shrugged, and sat up straighter. “Alright. What about you?”

“Eh. Same. How was your summer? I didn’t see much of you.”

“That’s probably because Octavia was gone for half the summer. And without her at your house, there’s no reason for me to be there.”

“Yeah. And I was gone for a while, too.” Bellamy arched his back, stretching over the back of the seat.

“And you were busy with football. I don’t know how you do it.”

“Do what?”

Clarke sighed. “Football, and having a part-time job, and being an honor student. And having a social life.”

“You do track and cross-country. And you’re an honor student too.”

Clarke shook her head. “But I still don’t work, or have a social life.”

“Yes, you do,” Bellamy countered. “You have plenty of friends, and you have time to spend with all of them.”

“Can we not argue about this right now?”

“Why not?”

She laced her fingers together behind her neck. “Because I don’t want to.”

“Fine. What’s your schedule?”

“Didn’t I tell you already?”

Bellamy shook his head. “You probably told Octavia, but not me.”

“Obviously I have this right now. I have homeroom with Porter after this. Then AP English, French, Jazz Ensemble, Calculus, AP U.S. History.”

He whistled. “Damn, that’s a lot of APs. You sure you can handle it?”

She huffed. “Of course I can. If I thought I couldn’t I wouldn’t have signed up for them,” Clarke replied indignantly.

The late bell rang, and the teacher stood up from her desk to address the class. “Welcome, juniors, to AP Biology. My name is Mrs. Taylor, and if you don’t belong here, get out.”

One student, Raven’s boyfriend Finn, made as if to get up but then did not. A few of the boys surrounding him snickered.

“None this year? Amazing. It seems like someone wrong always makes it in here.

“Anyway, first things first. Today we’ll be going over expectations for this class and an outline of what we’ll be doing this semester, and then I’m going to talk to you about your first projects.”

It took about half the class for Mrs. Taylor to cover the first two topics. Clarke paid attention at first, but soon tuned out as she stared at Lexa, who also appeared to be absentminded. Lexa doodled with a black pen on both hands – ambidextrous, Clarke noted – making intricate drawings that made Clarke wonder if Lexa was an artist like herself.  
Her own interests were an odd combination, Clarke thought. Music, and drawing, and science, and running. They didn’t really go together. Music and science at the opposite ends of the spectrum, and yet both nerdy. Was drawing nerdy too? Not really, Clarke decided, although it was still the opposite of science. And then running, which didn’t truly fit on the same scale. Running wasn’t nerdy, though; Clarke knew that for sure. Stereotypical nerds were thin and pasty, not tanned and muscular like her. Clarke absently stroked her calf, tensing the muscle under her hand.

“And your projects,” she was dimly aware of Mrs. Taylor saying. Clarke snapped back into focus. “This is a biology class, a class to study life. With a partner…” She was interrupted by small exclamations of joy. “…That I will decide…” Most of the class groaned in disappointment. “…You will be researching the topic I assign you. Each group will give a five to ten minute presentation on their topic. You will need to take notes on each presentation unless it’s your own. Then at our next class we will discuss all of these topics, because they are all related to three things: DNA, RNA, and the proteins related to them.

“Put your findings in a PowerPoint presentation. And don’t forget your bibliography.” Mrs. Taylor stepped over to her desk, and picked up a sheet of paper. “Your partners and your topics.” She looked down at the paper, and back up. “And attendance, so say ‘here’ when I say your name. Bellamy Blake and John Murphy, your topic is…”

Mrs. Taylor read off the list of names until she came to the very end. “Last, but not least, Lexa Wood and Clarke Griffin.”

“Here,” muttered Lexa.

“Present,” Clarke announced crisply.

“Your topic will be polymerases. This is due on Monday. Please take a moment to talk to your partner before the bell rings.”

Mrs. Taylor sat back down at her desk, and the class erupted into chatter. Clarke turned to her right. “Hey. Um, I’m Clarke.”

Lexa looked up at her. “Hi.” Her voice was quiet, soft.

“Is there a good time to work for you?” Clarke asked.

Lexa shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m in cross-country, so that eliminates right after school.”

Clarke grinned. “I’m in XC, too. You could come home with me after and we could work. You could stay however long and if you want I could maybe drive you home or something.”

“That…” Lexa paused, her mouth open slightly. “That would work, I think. Practice ends at five, right?”

“Yeah.” Clarke nodded. “And you could stay for supper if you want.”

Lexa looked away shyly, a smile curling one side of her mouth. “I’ll have to text my aunt, but…yes. Yeah. I’ll let you know during cross-country?”

“Yeah! Yeah, that works.” The bell rang, interrupting Clarke. “I’ll see you then.”

Clarke put her pencil in its case, stacked her binder and notebook, and swiftly inserted them into her backpack. She zipped it up, pulled it onto her back, and left the classroom.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from Coattails, by Broods.
> 
> I'm not sure how often I'll end up updating this. Hopefully a chapter a week during the summer; it will probably be done by the fall but I can't be sure.


End file.
